Desaparecidos
Read Music/Speak Spanish

THE REVIEW

After listening to the Desaparecidos and looking up some information about the band, you quickly realize what their biggest flaw is: they had too short a life. Maybe it was meant to be that way, but one can't help but feel disappointed. Let's be clear, we're not talking about a transcendental band, the kind that Music History desperately needed, but when a group has succeeded, it's always better if they continue to circulate, right?

The band, originally from Nebraska (U.S.A.), played from 2001 to 2002 and then stopped, except for a brief appearance in 2010 for a single American concert. The main reason for the group's short duration is that it was one of the various side projects of Conor Oberst, singer and guitarist of the Bright Eyes, founded by Oberst himself and devoted to a much-appreciated Folk-Indie-Rock, especially by internet dwellers. Alongside him in the Desaparecidos were 5 other musicians (including two bassists who took turns) such as Denver Dalley, who in 2003 founded Statistics, an Emo-Rock band under contract with Jade Tree Records.

But let's get to the album, after the necessary introduction. "Read Music/Speak Spanish" is a pleasant record, that flows smoothly, song after song, leaving various melodies stuck in the listener's head, which will then be forced to hum them with a (silly) smile plastered on their face. The proposed sound is well-played Emo with touches of Post-Hardcore “softened” by almost-always-present keyboards, placed there to act as a pop brake to a sound that might sometimes get too rough for the band's tastes (I would have been happy!). Conor Oberst tests himself: accustomed to a calm and intimate singing style with his Bright Eyes, here he gets a bit really pissed off, as the genre requires, and he succeeds quite well, in a way that seems spontaneous, natural, not forced. Listen to believe songs like “Manana” or “Greater Omaha”, among the luckiest of the entire album. The other musicians (the already mentioned Denver Dalley, Landon Hedges, Ian McElroy, and Matt Baum) make a great impression, creating a fresh sound, not at all angular and not smelling of copy-pasting from some other band.

"Read Music/Speak Spanish" presents a total of 9 songs in the original version (the one I listened to) and 10 in the international version. The Desaparecidos released only one single from this album, “The Happiest Place on Earth” in 2001, a cute piece but struggling to get going. Personally, I prefer other songs, such as the aforementioned “Manana” and “Greater Omaha” and then “Man and Wife, the Latter (Damaged Goods)”. However, I also quite like “Survival of the Fittest/It's a Jungle Out There” and “Man and Wife, The Former (Financial Planning)”, all centered on the theme that dominates the entire album: the critique of the Western lifestyle, especially American, all centered on consumption and money and unable to see beyond material attractions. This is what dear Oberst sings to us.

The weakest moment of the album, I find, is “Mall of America”, too muddled by McElroy's big keyboard, which sometimes gets out of hand in other tracks too. Obviously, it depends on one's tastes, but I don't really like too intrusive keyboards in Emo that echoes Post-Hardcore, as has been made clear... But despite this, the album is recommended to almost everyone, since it's not too demanding or only appreciable by genre enthusiasts.

Sure, Oberst, you could have tried to keep this project going...